Photographing snooker can be very simple or extremely difficult. You would imagine it would not be a tricky sport to capture: two players, not moving very fast and walking around a large, green-topped table hitting one ball into another with a long stick. However, it is difficult to capture the essence, purity and extreme difficulty in playing great snooker.
There is now a photo position next to the referee and etiquette demands that one cannot fire a frame until after the player has struck the white ball. The odd cough from the crowd is the only noise to break the silence at Wembley Arena, but the camera shutter sounds like a thunderclap. The players do not notice, such is their concentration, but if an overzealous snapper dares to fire before the shot is played, a white-gloved finger will be wagged furiously by the referee, followed by a hard stare.
Snooker fans are very knowledgeable about their sport and even Ronnie “The Rocket” O’Sullivan offered a wry smile after a cheer of, “C’mon, Ronnie, do it for Chingford”, broke the silence. This seemed to lift his spirits, made him snap out of his malaise and self-doubt to clear the table with such haste and precision that the camera motor drive went from single shot to continuous, which is why I never kept him far from the camera’s focus.
If any sportsman epitomises “being the sport”, O’Sullivan fits the bill. Strange, then, that the enigma admits to “blagging it” during his brilliant career, but genius is often a label that weighs heavily. He is a pleasure to photograph. The fans appreciate his shot-making and ability to change hands from right to left, but it is also the facial expressions and body language that make it difficult to focus on other players.
Looking through a long telephoto lens, his face betrays his thoughts and demons within. You could almost read the same deep thought process when focusing in on Boris Becker and Ayrton Senna as you can with O’Sullivan, who is attempting to win his fifth Masters title this weekend. A photographer glimpses a view of madness and an intensity behind the eyes; then you quickly look away without wishing to be caught in their gaze.